I am extremely interested in getting an A6 in the next couple of months....after browsing around a bit, I had a few questions.

First of all, ideally I was hoping to get an '04 2.7T S-Line. Otherwise, I was looking at '01 2.7T's. I will not be modifying the car in terms of race performance. Any modifications would be only to enhance performance in terms of daily driving (squeezing MPGs, reliability, etc) rather than having a beastial A6. So my questions are:

1. It's been said that if you don't drive the car hard that the turbos dying will be a relative non-issue. I'm not going to be racing, but I am a pretty aggressive driver, and I don't think that I can afford to be replacing turbos any time soon. Would I do better to forgo the turbos in favor of the 4.2 or even the 3.0? I would much prefer the 2.7T, but if the NA models are truly more reliable then I will definitely bow to my desires.

2. Assuming I get the 2.7, will there be any motivation for me to modify it in any way to enhance the longevity/daily driving performance?

3. Does the Bose sound system do well enough on its own, or should I factor in getting some stereo equipment into my price caculations? I would like to be able to plug my ipod into the stereo directly, rather than piggy-backing a radio signal. I'm assuming that I could get aftermarket head units for that, but I'm not sure how much they cost as I have done little to no research on the topic.

4. I could have sworn there was a fourth question, but now I forgot it.

Anyhow, thank you for any help that I get. I've only been a passenger in a 2005 A6 a few times, but I was sold after that.

 

I have the Bose and it is great...Getting ready to replace timing belt ($1500) at 100k miles...Cat Converter issues..I drive it daily 100 miles on DC beltway

 

Hopefully I'll be able to get one with decently low miles (50k-60k), with any luck. Thanks for the reply.

 

Hopefully it will have less than 60k on it.
Afew days ago a I purchased a CPO'd 2003 A6 2.7T...it has the sport suspension and 18" wheels/40 series tires..kinda rides too stiff for the freeways...you may want to test drive one with the stock wheels/tires and one with a +1 or +2 size.
When more 2004/2005 A6's are more available I plantrade in my A6 2.7T for a "regular" A6 with the 4.2.

 

anybody else have any advice?

 

If you are not goig to mod, I would get the 4.2. It is a better performer out of the box and it is more durable. I also like the fender flares.

 

extreme dittos. performs as well as turbo without mods and less maintaining. drinks only a little more gas. if you are an agressive driver, gas mileage cannot be a major concern of yours in either of these cars. 4.2s more rare and IMO, better looking. I have 18's on mine with sport and lux package and it is great. Bose is a great systetem . HC system in BMW is the only one I know of that I think sounds better.

 

the 4.2 was in each model year, right? i really haven't seen many of them at all...and when i do, they're all from 2001, strangely enough.